Insurance by Agreement (Abredeversicherung, UVG)

Starting point: end of insurance cover

Compulsory accident insurance ends on the 31st day after the day on which the entitlement to at least half the salary ceases (Art. 3 para. 2 UVG). Salary for this purpose also includes daily allowances from accident, military, disability and unemployment insurance as well as sickness daily allowances insofar as they replace continued salary payment. Anyone who gives up their job, takes unpaid leave, sets off on a round-the-world trip or whose entitlement to unemployment benefit ends loses protection against non-occupational accidents after this run-off period; occupational accidents are in any case no longer possible without an employment relationship. Unemployed persons entitled to unemployment benefit are insured with Suva while drawing benefits (Art. 1a para. 1 let. b UVG).

How the insurance by agreement works

The insurer must offer the insured person the possibility of extending non-occupational accident insurance by special agreement for up to six months (Art. 3 para. 3 UVG, Art. 8 UVV). The agreement must be concluded and the premium paid before the 31-day run-off cover expires; it can be taken out month by month up to a maximum of six consecutive months and can be neither cancelled nor refunded. The premium is a flat monthly amount set by each UVG insurer; at Suva it is CHF 65 per month (as of 2025). The scope of benefits corresponds to that of the compulsory scheme – medical costs, daily allowance, pension, integrity and helplessness compensation based on the previous insured earnings – and applies worldwide. For longer interruptions, accident cover should be included in health insurance under the KVG, which however only covers medical costs and provides no income replacement.

Country comparison

Germany and Austria have no equivalent of the Abredeversicherung, because statutory accident insurance there covers only occupational and commuting accidents and occupational diseases and ends with the employment relationship; leisure accidents are a matter for statutory health insurance and private accident insurance. The Abredeversicherung is thus a special feature of the Swiss system, which includes non-occupational accidents in the compulsory scheme.